Every year around this time I like to rank each team’s top overall prospects. My criteria are based on A: Past Performance and B: Future Potential (50% of each per prospect)

Disclaimer: I am not a professional scout, nor did I attend any minor league games this year. These lists are the product of my own research of online scouting reports and scouting videos, as well as statistics, and are compiled purely for entertainment purposes.

Every year around this time I like to rank each team’s top overall prospects. My criteria are based on A: Past Performance and B: Future Potential (50% of each per prospect)

Disclaimer: I am not a professional scout, nor did I attend any minor league games this year. These lists are the product of my own research of online scouting reports and statistics, and are compiled purely for entertainment purposes.

When a pitcher gets drafted, major league teams can care less about the size of the school they came from, if they can throw hard. While reliever Victor Lara attended tiny Division III Keystone College in Towanda, Pennsylvania, his ability to throw his fastball as hard as 98 mph got him quickly noticed by professional talent evaluators. As a result, he was taken in the 34th round of the 2010 MLB draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The right-handed Lara struggled in his first professional season in 2010 with Missoula in the Rookie level Pioneer League, posting an 8.02 ERA. But his average of more than a strikeout per inning displayed the promise that had made him a draft pick. He was much better in 2011 playing again with Missoula. Lara dropped his ERA to 4.80 in 22 games, while picking up a save and striking out 40 hitters in 30 innings. He will be looked upon again to improve even further in 2012, and is a good bet to start his season in A-ball.

I recently had an opportunity to find out more about this intriguing pitching prospect.

Who was your favorite team and player growing up, and why?
I have always loved the Florida Marlins. I’m a Florida boy and I grew up going to the stadium and watching them play. Growing up I always liked Nolan Ryan and Greg Maddux; Ryan because of his fastball and Maddux because of his pin-point control and his movement.

Can you run through what your draft experience was like?
Well, I always wanted to get drafted and play in the big leagues like any other kid that plays baseball, but it was rough. I jumped two colleges and it was hard for me. I ended up at Keystone and had my chance to compete there even though I had to battle a few obstacles. Waiting for my name to be called in the draft had to be one of the most nerve wracking situations I’ve been put in my life, but at the same time I was excited. When I saw my friends from my school that got drafted to the same team, it was an awesome feeling.

You played college baseball at Keystone College, a Division III school; did you anticipate having an opportunity to be drafted after you decided to attend there?
In a way I did because of my ability, but in the back of my mind I was like ‘what I’m I doing here in the middle of nowhere? No one will come see me here play.’ But little did I know scouts started to show up to our practices and our games, and I started to get letters and phone calls, and I said to myself ‘there’s a chance,’ and every time I stepped on the field I played 110% and gave it my all. My dad always told me that they will find me anywhere I would play, and that’s exactly how it happened.

What pitches do you throw, and which one is your strongest and which one needs the most work?
I throw a fastball, which is my best pitch, a slider, and a split change. The slider is the pitch I will have to work on the most and try to make it better.

How difficult is it to adapt to the life and routines of a professional baseball player?
It was tough on my body and on my mind. Playing every day is hard and you have to be prepared to do it, and to perform every day and every time your name is called.

What is the best baseball park/stadium you have ever played in?
I will have to say Billings, Montana, in rookie ball for the Cincinnati Reds.

You are in the 2011 Topps Pro Debut card set; what is it like having your own baseball card?
Yes, I have my own card. I think it’s awesome when you have something that your fans can have and show you and send you fan mail, and return the card signed. It’s an unbelievable feeling for any athlete.

One of the most under the radar prospects in the minors right now is Arizona Diamondbacks prospect Adam Eaton. The 19th round pick in the 2010 MLB draft out of Miami Ohio, has been a hitting machine in his first two seasons as a pro. Eaton has batted a combined .340 with 36 Doubles, 11 Triples, 17 Home Runs, 104 RBI’s and 54 Stolen Bases in his 189 game pro career that has reached topped out at Double-A Mobile this past season. In addition he’s been one of the stars of the 2011 Arizona Fall League season batting .333 for the Salt River Rafters through the first three weeks of the fall season. In the story link below, Eaton talks about the words of his late uncle that have inspired him to play much bigger than his 5’8″ height. Also in the story, Arizona Diamondbacks teammates, managers, and scouts talk about exciting outfielder’s fearless play and rapid ascent through the system. It’s a great read.

Every year at this time I like to rank each team’s top prospects. My criteria is based upon both past performance and future potential to his parent team. This is my ranking of the 2012 Arizona Diamondbacks Top Prospects.

To qualify, a prospect must have fewer than 130 at-bats or 50 innings in MLB

Disclaimer – I did not attend any minor league games this year, nor do I claim to have any scouting experience. These lists are the product of my own research of statistics and online scouting reports.

Current Arizona Diamondbacks pitching prospect Tyler Skaggs was traded from the Los Angeles Angels as the player to be named later in the July 2010 trade that sent Dan Haren to the Angels. Apparently no one told the Topps company who in their 2011 Bowman Chrome baseball product that hit retail stores today, features Skaggs in his Los Angeles Angels uniform and comes complete with the Angels logo on the front of the card. It seems nearly impossible given Skaggs status as one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball that Topps could manage to mess up so badly. You can view the card via the link below.

The Arizona Diamondbacks honored the memory of Reno Airshow plane crash victim and Diamondbacks fan Michael Wogan before their playoff game with the Milwaukee Brewers. Wogan’s mother Anne Wogan threw out the first pitch, and the Diamondbacks announced that they will be renaming their season ticket scholarship program in Wogan’s honor. In the video below you can see the emotional first pitch in which Anne Wogan looks to the heavens, kisses the ball, and then throws the pitch to Diamondbacks pitcher Brad Ziegler. The family also talks about their loss and their gratitude to the Diamondbacks organization for all they have done for the family since the tragedy.

Check out Ryan Roberts walk off grand slam from last night. The Diamondbacks trailed the Dodgers 6-3 heading into the bottom of the 10th. The D-Backs rallied to load the bases and set up Roberts heroics. The grand slam won the game for the Diamondbacks and kept their home field advantage dreams alive. In addition to the home run heroics, Roberts provided an equally epic trot around the bases in which he re-enacted manager Kirk Gibson’s famous fist pumping of his 1988 World Series Home Run off of Dennis Eckersley, and also ripped off his jersey before jumping into a sea of teammates. The blast came three nights after Ryan Roberts Bobblehead Night in Arizona. The bobbleheads which came complete with Roberts tattooed arms are currently going bonkers on Ebay. Check out the Home Run trot below, a video from the stands during the blast, as well as the post game interview with Roberts.

In his big league career, Jerry Dipoto accounted for 27 wins in eight seasons on the mound for Cleveland Indians, New York Mets, and Colorado Rockies in the mid to late 1990’s and managed to beat thyroid cancer along the way. The 43 year old, recently served as the Arizona Diamondbacks interim general manager before becoming the senior vice president of scouting and player development, following the club’s hiring of Kevin Towers as GM in September of last year. The work Dipoto has done with the Diamondbacks has not only helped them reach the playoffs this season, but has given them one of the deepest farm systems in baseball featuring the likes of Jarrod Parker, Tyler Skaggs, Trevor Bauer, Archie Bradley, Matt Davidson, Bobby Borchering, Ryan Wheeler, A.J. Pollock, and more all within striking distance of the major league level. That list doesn’t even include Paul Goldschmidt labeled by some as the minor league player of the year for 2011 who was a big part of the Diamondbacks playoff push. In the story link below, Dipoto talks about building the Diamondbacks into the organization it is today, and his colleagues talk about how the former pitcher is establishing himself as a future major league baseball general manager.